Sikhs Kill 53 With Bombs As Terror Campaign Starts

May 11, 1985|By Washington Post

NEW DELHI — Sikh terrorists launched a new wave of violence Friday by detonating bombs in New Delhi and nearby Haryana state that killed 53 people and wounded more than 100 in bus depots and train stations.

In Punjab state, meanwhile, Sikhs pressed their terrorist drive against political leaders by assassinating Choudhury Balbir Singh, state president of the opposition People's Party. The slaying touched off sectarian violence there.

The explosions in New Delhi and Haryana state appeared to set back efforts by the government of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to negotiate a political settlement of Sikh demands for increased autonomy in Punjab.

Most of the explosions were set off by booby-trapped transistor radios left on the seats of public buses and trains, authorities said.

The blasts represented the most serious escalation of Sikh terrorism since before Indian army troops stormed the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar on June 6, killing 1,000 Sikh guerrillas.

Sikh anger at the storming of the temple is believed to have led to the October assassination of Gandhi's mother, Indira Gandhi, by two of her Sikh guards.

That, in turn, prompted acts of mob violence by Hindus against the Sikhs in which hundreds were killed and thousands displaced.